gibson



N0. 620,58l. Patented Mar. 7, I899. R. W. GIBSON.

GAB FENDER.

(Application filed Jan. 7, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheat I.

II IHIHII VIIIIIIIIIIIIIII llfl/IIA WITNESSES: INVENTOR Gay/UM {DMWMATTORN EY Patented Mar. 7, I899. v R. W. GIBSON.

GAR FENDER.

(Application flled'Jan. 7 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(N0 MudeI.)

INVENTOR ATTORN EY WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIoE.

ROBERT WILLIAMS GIBSON, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 620,581, dated March '7,1899.

Application filed January 7, 1899. Serial No. 701,461. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT WILLIAMS GIB- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOar-Fenders, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to fenders for streetcars and other similarvehicles; and the object of such invention is to provide a fender whichwhile held and carried normally in an elevated position is automaticallyreleased and dropped before coming in contact with any object lying inthe path of the car, such invention constituting an importantimprovement on the invention described in the specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 555,316, granted to me under date February 25,1806. In such specification I described a fender provided with a mainguard hinged to the vehicle and arranged to be shifted longitudinallyina rearward direction, and thereby dropped from a loop sustaining suchmain guard when a fore guard attached to such main guard came in contactwith an obstacle in the path of the car. WVhile a fender of theconstruction described in this specification possessed many advantagesover fenders not arranged to act automatically, I have found thatmaterial improvements could be effected in the method of carrying anddropping the fender. By my present invention I have perfecteda method bywhich the automatic dropping of the main fender in time to remove anyobstacle is effected without any longitudinal displacement or shifting,and its operation is rendered absolutely certain and effective under allconditions.

The nature of my invention and the method in which the desired objectsare attained are fully set forth and described in the followingspecification and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of my improved fender secured to the forward end of a car,such fender being shown as carried in elevated or normal position. Fig.2 is a similar view of the fender after dropping. Fig. 3 is a plan viewof the fender.

In the above figures, V represents the body of the car.

A is a frame forming the main guard of the fender, constructed with siderails or, a and a front rail (0. I construct such front rail apreferentially of a suitable elastic substance and I fill in the frame Awith a suitable netting or other similar fabric N for the purpose ofholdingabody or other obstacle when lifted by the front rail (4.

The frame A is hinged to the car-body at the points x :c and issupported on a yoke Y, supported on the draw-bolt D, attached in anysuitable manner to the under side of the car.

B is a frame forming the fore guard of'the fender and hinged to the mainguard at the points z z in such a way as to allow of free upward motion.

1) is a crank-lever framed into the fore guard and so constructed thatwhen the fore guard Bis raised the ends of the lever 12 are pushed backand operate the rod R, which in turn pushes back the draw-bolt D, andthereby releases the yoke Y, thus allowing the main guard A to drop intothe position shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of my improved fender and the manner in which itaccomplishes the objects for which it is designed are as follows: Themain guard A is normally suspended at any desired height from the groundand carries the fore guard 13 at about the same height. On the foreguard coming in contact with any object, such as a body lying on thetrack, it will if the object be sufficiently high pass under and catchit with the ordinary action of a fender; but if, as is often the case,such object is low and has a tendency to pass under the fender, the foreguard in passing over such object rises easily and freely on its hingeswithout injuring the object, and immediately by the action of the lever11 operating the rod R the draw-bolt D is drawn, thereby freeing theyoke Y, and the main guard A immediately drops and passes. under andpicks up the object without injury.

I have in the above specification and drawings shown a simple mechanismwhereby the main guard is dropped by releasing a drawbolt supporting theyoke Y, by which the main guard is suspended, but it is obvious that themotion of the lover I), when actuated by the rising of the fore guard,may be ar ranged to cause the release of the yoke Y by other mechanicalmethods without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described the nature of my invention and the mode in whichit is operated, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination with the vehicle, of a main guard attached to thevehicle byhinges adapted to give such guard vertical movement, means fornormally suspending the main guard at any required height, a fore guardhinged to the main guard in such a manner as to allowa free upwardmovement of the fore guard, a lever operated by the upward movement ofthe fore guard, and means for releasing the support by which the mainguard is suspended to the vehicle when the lever is operated by theupward movement of the fore guard, all substantially as described andfor the-purposes specified.

2. The combination with a vehicle of the main guard A hinged to thevehicle and suspended therefrom by the yoke Y, the fore guard B, hingedto the front of the main guard A and free to rise when pressed upward byan object in front of the vehicle but remaining stationary when passingunder such object, and means for releasing the yoke Y from itsattachment to the vehicle when such means are actuated by the rising ofthe fore guard B, substantially as described and for the purposesspecified.

3. The combination with a vehicle of the main guard A, hinged to thebody of the vehicle and suspended therefrom by the yoke Y, the foreguard B hinged to the main guard A and operating by its upward movementthe lever b, and means for releasing the yoke Y by the operation of thelever 19 when such lever is actuated by the rising of the fore guard Bin manner shown and for the purposes specified.

4. The combination with a vehicle, of the main guard A hinged to thebody of the vehicle, the fore guard B hinged to the fore part of themain guard A, the lever 12 operated by the rising of the fore guard B,the rod R actuated by the lever 12, the draw-bolt D attached to thevehicle and carrying the yoke Y and operated by the rod R, and the yokeY suspended from the car by the draw-bolt D and carrying the main guardA, all substantially as'described and for the purposes specified.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 4th day of January, A. D. 1899.

ROBERT WILLIAMS GIBSON.

Witnesses:

M. E. STODDART, P. HATHAWAY.

